And lastly was Cinnamon Snail. All vegan but amazing! That raspberry chocolate beast there was mine and it was epic! Obviously, the toasted coconut one is Phong’s and the almond we ended up with because of a misunderstanding. All doughnut misunderstandings that result in MORE doughnuts are 100% okay.

That’s Phong eating the shit out of my doughnut. Look how angry he looks! It’s so good it makes you angry. Who knew a vegan place would bring out our inner beasts?

I think I’ve had a unique experience as far as book covers go. Linn Arvidsson, the cover artist, is one of my beta readers. She reads absolutely everything I write and rereads it when I make big changes. I don’t think Vanity in Dust has a bigger fan in the world. So, I felt completely at ease when she contacted my publisher about doing the cover art. I’ve seen her work before and she knows the story.

After tossing around a bunch of ideas, she decided to do a photoshoot to make her own stockpile of pictures. Not just for this cover, but for the next couple covers. Luckily for us, my husband is not only the perfect model for Vaun Dray Fen, but also has an ever-growing collection of suits and vests. We did the photoshoot the same weekend Phong and I were in Umeå to get married.

The flowers on the table are actually ones I reused from my bouquet. The gold cup, I spray painted myself. And all of the treats are very real. We ate the ones that survived the shoot afterward. We brought enough treats and porcelain to redress the table three times and Phong managed to change his hair as well as his outfit each time too.

It was so much fun to be a part of the making of the cover, or at least there to watch it happen, and I am so happy with how it turned out. Linn is amazing!

We’d been together for 11 years. 5 years in a long distance relationship, he in Sweden and me in California, and then 6 years together in Sweden.

We met on a writing website and I just adored his work! I was so in love with his writing that I started an msn (that’s how long ago it was) just to talk to him. We talked every day since.

We spent quite a bit of time trying to decide how to go about our wedding since most of his family lives in the south of Sweden and we live in the uber north. And, of course, my family lives in the States.

We didn’t want anyone to have to travel for us so, instead, we decided to do the traveling! We got married in Umeå; a small ceremony with our close family there. Later we went down to Skåne to celebrate with the rest of Phong’s family and in December/January we’re going to California to celeberate with mine!

The ceremony wasn’t until 4 in the afternoon so Linn and I went out for a morning fika, bought flowers at the market and came home to put my bouquet together.

Linn was amazing! She did my hair, spraying each and every curl so that they were solid and curly for days. She made sure I got there on time and took a million beautiful pictures! Pretty much all of the ones in this blog. Except for that one to the right. That one was mine! Oh, and when we took one of these pictures together, her hair got stuck in my headband.

Phong and I had a civil ceremony at one of the city buildings in the center of Umeå, my very favorite city.

It was beautiful out! It had rained just before, which I was told was good luck, and a pigeon pooped on my father-in-law’s bag, which, turns out, also good luck! I’m starting to suspect that some very clever person just started telling brides and grooms that bad things were good luck to calm them down.

It was perfect. It was small and stress-free and happy and we had a wonderful day.

Phong’s jacket was AMAZING. Let’s all just take a minute to consider his outfit and how fantastic is is. Those shoes!

After the wedding we had dinner at Sagami in Umeå. I’ll do a post about that next followed by the rest of our travels this summer!

And, of course, here’s a cake picture because how often do I post something without a picture of food?

Phong is a delight to travel with. He makes me laugh, is willing to play the same card game with me for upwards of four hours, always lets me have the window seat, and never eats the last cookie, chip, or piece of candy.

We’ve traveled by car, plane, train, boat, and bus and over the years I’ve noticed his one travel weakness. Phong always falls asleep.

I’m not sure how he takes the city bus on his own because I’ve seen him fall asleep on a five minute bus ride before.

On a train.

In the car heading home after camping.

On a bus for all of five minutes.

Train. And taking these pictures isn’t easy either. He has a sense for when a camera is pointed at him. Quite often he’ll wake up abruptly and pose.

Train. Repurposing his jacket and my scarf for a neck brace.

Car in California. The first sleeping travel Phong picture I ever took, about 10 years ago.

He might not always stay awake while we travel but he does hold my hand while he sleeps so it evens out.